


AC20 Day 21: Just A Memory

by The_Rose



Series: Rose's Advent Calendar 2020 [21]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies), Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: But it's there, F/M, Follow up, Illidan has a hard time with feelings, drama incoming, less fighting this time, maiev is having none of that, more relationship development, really mild smut, that's clearly not the focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:22:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28223841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Rose/pseuds/The_Rose
Summary: Weeks had passed since Illidan and Maiev had finally been able to drift together, becoming an unstoppable force against the Kaiju.But that morning, as they start to drift to defend the Shatterdome once more, Illidan let out a memory that he wanted to keep secret.(Follow up of "AC19 Day 11: The Monsters We Created")
Relationships: Maiev Shadowsong/Illidan Stormrage
Series: Rose's Advent Calendar 2020 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036257
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	AC20 Day 21: Just A Memory

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> So, I fucking love Pacific Rim (the 1st one, still haven't watched the second, don't wanna) and it was natural for me to keep writing for this AU.
> 
> If you are new here, I recommend you to go read the first fic, as I give in the notes, almost all the details needed to understand the AU without having to watch the movie first, but please, go watch it!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it and yes, there will be a follow-up next year.

“Kaiju detected! I repeat: Kaiju detected! All pilots are expected in the command center! I repeat: All pilots are expected in the command center!”

The voice was blasting through the speakers, echoing in the entirety of the Shatterdome as it woke up the place in the middle of the night. Along with the robotic voice announcing the imminence of the attack, a siren was shrieking to make sure that no one could sleep through the attack. And in one of the rooms of the dorms, Illidan and Maiev jumped awake, getting out of each other’s arms as they perfectly knew what the alarm meant for them.

“Obviously,” groaned Illidan as he rubbed his face to wake up, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I guess that the Kaiju couldn’t wait a few more hours until the new recruits got there? It obviously had to show up when we would be the only one to fight.”

“Stop complaining and hurry,” Maiev rolled her eyes, already putting on her drifting suit. “I want to add its head to my scoreboard and show those newbies who are the best.”

“Don’t you mean, who is?” chuckled Illidan as he glanced at her from the side. “I know that you would strangle me to get the title of the best Jaeger’s pilot.”

Maiev rolled her eyes harder as she turned to look at Illidan, slowly getting away from the bed to finally dress correctly for the fight that had to come. When comparing the fights they had taken part in, Maiev was easily the one who had killed the more Kaiju, and she was loving that fact, but at the same time, ever since Illidan had become her official partner, a few weeks ago, they had never lost any fights or thought it was the end for them, and for Maiev who had lost every single one of her copilots before him, it was a nice change of pace. She was almost thankful that she got to get inside Illidan’s head and saw that he wasn’t that much of a bad guy after all.

“Let’s go!” she urged, opening the door. “We cannot let that Kaiju get too close from the coast!”

“Incoming,” smiled Illidan as he finished putting on his own drifting suit.

“Shadowsong and Stormrage checking in!” claimed Maiev as she pushed the button to allow the communication between the cockpit of the Jaeger and the command center. “Deliverance Point is ready to go!”

“Good morning Maiev and Illidan!” Quickly replied Khadgar. “Sorry for the short notice, but you know how those monsters are.”

“Morning Khadgar,” added Illidan. “Don’t worry, we will fight to allow us to get more sleep-in in the future.”

“I can hear your bitterness,” pointed Khadgar. “Sorry, but we’ll have to wait to send back those monsters where they belong before the sleep-in.”

“I will kill for it.”

“Less joke and more concentration Illidan,” sighed Maiev as she shook her head.

“Sorry, sorry. Let’s go.”

“Maiev is right, we cannot afford to lose more time,” added Khadgar. “We are going to start the drift, are you ready?”

Inside the cockpit, Illidan and Maiev looked at each other. Of course, they were ready. With all the drift they had made together within the last months, they knew everything about the other, and besides the very first drift, they never had any accidents. There was no way that it could go wrong once again. So, they smiled at each other and nodded at the same time, as if they had already been bound.

“We are,” they replied in unison as they felt their mind connecting.

_ Illidan proudly waiting on a chair. _

_ Two strangers laughing with Illidan. _

_ Maiev opening a birthday gift from all of the police station. _

_ The first Kaiju kill. _

_ Illidan’s dad standing in the doorframe. _

_ Naisha’s death. _

_ Maiev, peacefully sleeping, that very morning. _

In the command center, Marshall Khadgar was looking at the screen that allowed him to control the different body metrics of the pilots, to make sure that everything was going well for them, and he could only frown as they were way too quiet for the forces of the nature that were Illidan and Maiev. Almost as if they were in a shocking state, unless they were actually chasing the rabbit.

“Illidan? Maiev?” he called through the intercom. “Are you there?”

Silence answered him and a cold sweat rolled his spine. It wasn’t the time to lose any of their fighters, and even less the two who had the more chance of winning the fight against the Kaiju. He quickly glanced at Velen, standing in the room with him, and also frowning at the weird reaction that the two were having. But before Khadgar could call them again, a voice echoed through the room.

“Ah ah, sorry,” awkwardly laughed Illidan. “It seems that the awakening had been ruder than expected…”

“What happened?!”

“Nothing,” kept awkwardly laughing Illidan. “It was just the perfect cold shower to wake up, we are fine.”

But Khadgar knew that laugh, Illidan would always have it when he was trying to hide something, and it was often bringer of bad news. He couldn’t let them fight in that state.

“Illidan, Maiev. We are going to shut down the drift, and you will leave the Jaeger, I’m not letting you leave the Shatterdome.”

“Wait Marshall!” finally intervened Maiev. “Sorry, we got surprised but it won’t impact your fight, allow us to go please!”

Cutting the communication so they wouldn’t hear him, Khadgar turned to Velen.

“What do we do? Won’t it be dangerous to let them fight?”

“I think you should let them go. Usually, when Maiev promises that there won’t be any problem, there aren’t. I would trust them.”

“I hope that you are right,” said Khadgar, reinstating the communication. “Alright, you can go, but I want an explanation once you get back.”

“Thank you,” only replied Maiev as she muttered it, ignoring the second command.

As they finally gave them full control of the giant robot and that the Deliverance Point made his way out of the hangar to go and fight the Kaiju, Khadgar sat down on his chair and rubbed his face. Even if they were going to get more pilots to protect the Shatterdome in the following hours, he couldn’t afford to lose both of his best pilots for probably some stupid reasons. Grabbing his mug of coffee, he gently moved the container to get the liquid to turn inside, losing himself in his thought in the hope to find out what had happened.

“Could it be Illidan’s fault again?” he asked out loud. “He did try to brush it off quite fast…”

Khadgar painfully remembered the first drift between the two, when Illidan accidentally revealed to Maiev that Naisha’s death had been more than an accident, even if in the end, he had never really wanted the woman to die. But it couldn’t be something as serious as the first time, as there had been no anger from Maiev’s side.

“I don’t know… Maiev barely spoke but… She seemed like, slightly embarrassed and somewhat, shocked?”

“I don’t see her being shocked that easily… Or was Illidan saying the truth? That they weren’t completely awake?” frowned Khadgar. “But then… Was he implying they’re sleeping together?”

Velen had a chuckle as he slowly shook his head.

“If you mean, physically sharing a bed to sleep, then yes, they are sleeping together. But if you mean it as sex, no, you are wrong. They aren’t even a couple yet.”

“Umm… Strange, they do look like one…”

“We know,” shrugged Velen. “And by the way, if you want to bet on how long it will take them, it’s still a possibility.”

After a good thirty minutes of fights, the Deliverance Point slowly made his way back inside the Shatterdome, and within the cockpit, everything was silent but for the engines softly roaring. For the first time since they had started to drift together, Maiev found herself against a wall when she was trying to get inside Illidan’s head, despite that he had sworn to her that he would never hide anything from her again, but with just the look of his face, she knew it was hurting him.

“Illidan?” she tried to call him, as they were getting back to the hangar.

Only silence answered her, and she knew it was going to be the case for the rest of the day, if not the week, and she already hated it. Especially that she needed to have her answer right away. It was also hurting her; she was feeling his pain because they were connected by drift. But it was too late, and she only heard the muffled voice of Khadgar congratulating them once again for the kill, but also announcing that they were shutting off the drift.

And suddenly, Maiev felt empty.

Even more than usually as Illidan had been shutting off his side since the beginning.

“Illidan?” she tried again, knowing it was in vain.

“Oh boy,” he awkwardly laughed as he made sure to avoid her gaze. “I’m so hungry, I better leave now and go find something to eat.”

And with those words, he jumped out of the cockpit, without allowing Maiev to say something more or to stop him from leaving. So, the woman stayed alone, a tear rolling down her cheek as she replayed the last memory of the drift, as Illidan was watching her when she was sleeping, and before she could wonder why it was happening, the feeling hit her. She felt his love; his love for her. As it had never happened in one of their drifts before, she wondered if this was new, or if he had simply been able to hide it until that day. But if Maiev was sure of one thing, it was that Illidan wouldn’t escape her. She would get her answer, no matter how much he was going to try and avoid her.

Leaving the cockpit of the Jaeger, she began her hunt, conveniently forgetting that Khadgar was still waiting for an explanation about the drift. But there was no way that she would say anything until she would hear it from Illidan first. After all, maybe she misinterpreted what she saw and felt, even if Illidan’s reaction was enough to know that it wasn’t the case at all.

Hours had passed until she finally found him, walking in a hallway, far away from everything. He was dragging his feet, hands in the pockets of his pants, and both of his head and shoulders were falling as a faint muttering could be heard coming from him. Discreetly, Maiev approached him, making sure to not be heard as she had no doubts that he would leave as soon as he would notice her, and she didn’t want to spend the next few days running after him constantly. As she got extremely close to him, she slowly put her hand over his shoulder, a gentle but firm grasp saying that he couldn’t escape.

“Illidan?” she gently called as she felt him becoming tense under her touch. “Can we talk?”

“I don’t want to talk,” he groaned as he tried to remove her hands.

“Please,” she added, grasping his shoulder more firmly. “I just want to understand.”

“There’s nothing to understand, leave me alone.”

“No, I won’t! I thought that we agreed to stop having secrets for each other!”

At those words, Illidan winced and kept looking away, unable to face Maiev, but the woman wasn’t done.

“I just want to understand,” she repeated. “You’re my copilot; my partner. We drifted together so much that we are basically one now, so please, don’t hide anything from me anymore. Why are you so scared?”

Finally, Illidan looked back at Maiev, his lips and fists shaking as he realized that there was really no anger coming from her, she was just really worried about him and only wanted to know why he was trying to run away from his feelings. She wasn’t hating him, so maybe it meant that he had a chance after all. But to do that, he had to show himself as weak, something that he was only able to do when he was alone with her.

“Maiev –”

“Illidan?” Interrupted a voice.

Almost jumping, Illidan quickly turned his head towards the voice, one that he was recognizing despite the years, for his greatest misfortune, and as expected, a man and a woman were standing in the hallway, looking at the couple arguing. And as he recognized the face, Illidan couldn’t say anything and instead, got rid of Maiev’s hand still on his shoulder and walked away without a word, almost running through the hallway. Maiev groaned out loud, well-decided to follow Illidan, but first, she quickly glanced to the newcomers, and strangely, they looked familiar without being able to pinpoint why. Even if she had to look twice at the man before realizing that no, it wasn’t Illidan in front of her. But she didn’t have time to think about it or start a conversation as Illidan was way more important to her, so she quickly began to run after him, cursing.

Thankfully, Illidan hadn’t run far enough for her to lose his tracks, and quickly she saw him entering one of the training rooms and she followed him. There was no way that he would escape her, not after that she had been so close to finally get him to talk. And as she entered the room, she quickly shut down the door behind her, not caring that as it slammed shut, it alerted Illidan of her presence, and taking advantage that there was a training mat on the ground, she jumped on Illidan. Destabilized by the sudden attack, Illidan fell on the mat, Maiev keeping her arms tightly locked around him until he stopped struggling and accepted his fate. Then, Maiev raised her head and body to face him.

“We weren’t done with our conversation!” she growled in his face.

A genuine smile spread across Illidan’s face as he looked at her.

“Now I recognize the woman who put me in jail.”

“This doesn’t amuse me Illidan! And don’t try to change the subject!”

Once again, Illidan looked away, culpability all over his face as he kept trying to dodge the conversation, but deep down, he knew that Maiev wouldn’t let it go that easily and in some way, he was happy that it was the case. He needed her more than never.

“Illidan, please, just tell me… Do you really love me?”

And finally, those words were out. The one that was both haunting them since the drift of the morning, and those responsible for Illidan running away all day. She knew she couldn’t be wrong, she was sure of what she felt at the time, but she needed him to be honest and tell it out loud, to confirm it.

“I do,” he finally said after a long break and a deep sigh. “I fell in love with you.”

“Then why don’t you tell me?! Why are you running away?!”

“Because I don’t deserve it!” yelled Illidan, immediately hiding his face in his hands in a desperate hope to hide his tears. “I don’t deserve it, not after everything I’ve done!”

As Illidan was finally opening up, Maiev removed her hands that were keeping him on the floor, and she sat down on him, already feeling hurt on his behalf, as after all, the drift had made them even closer than they could. Gently, she put one of her hands on his, her thumb brushing his skin as she waited.

“You said it yourself,” continued Illidan. “I’m unworthy of love and –”

“Illidan!” Interrupted Maiev, offended. “It was years ago! I was trying to catch you and put you in jail, I had no idea what was going to happen to us! We changed; you changed!”

“And yet, I killed Naisha and I wasn’t even able to amend for it!”

“For fuck sake Illidan! Stop with that! It doesn’t matter anymore and… And… Argh!”

Maiev jumped back on her feet, pacing as she grabbed her head between her hands, loudly muttering between her gritted teeth as a few angry tears rolled down her cheeks. She knew that Illidan had some self-loathing problems, but it was too much for her to handle at the moment, and she wasn’t even sure how to resolve them as Illidan himself was preferring running away than facing them. But she wanted him; she wanted him to stay with her, and even if she didn’t have feelings as strong as his, she only wanted to stay by his side. Especially now that she knew that he was, indeed, in love with her.

Then, the idea struck her.

Quickly, she made the few steps that were separating her from Illidan, and she grabbed his hands, forcing him back on his feet and then, proceeded to start dragging him towards the door.

“Maiev?” Illidan asked, wondering what she was doing.

“Let’s drift together again,” she simply said, determination in her eyes.

“But they won’t allow us inside a Jaeger without a good reason, and the simulation will be reserved for the new pilots,” pointed out Illidan.

“Don’t worry, we don’t need it.”

Before he could ask what she meant, Maiev began to drag him all through the Shatterdome, and if in the beginning Illidan was trying to fight it, as soon as they reached the more crowded part of the place, he had no other choice but to act as if everything was normal when they were passing by other peoples, even if he was still feeling really emotional from everything he had said.

As they reached the dorms, Maiev pushed him inside her room, the one that they had been sharing for weeks now, and quickly locked the door behind her as Illidan wondered why they had stopped by that place. Finally alone in a place where they were feeling safe, Maiev joined Illidan and gently put her hands over his face, lowering it so their foreheads were touching.

“Ready to drift?” she softly asked him, almost a whisper.

“Maiev, I don’t under–”

Her lips on him quickly made him shut up as she kissed him, and slowly, her hands moved from his face to slid down his torso until she could embrace him around the waist and bring him as close as possible from her body.

“Oh, now I understand,” he chuckled as he broke the kiss. “But I – ”

“Come on Illidan,” she groaned. “Don’t think, just feel.”

Going back on his lips, she pushed him on the bed and made him sit as she got on his laps, her hands already unbuttoning his shirt as he walked his hands over her body, realizing that he already knew it from all the time they had spent together, along with the multiple drifts. Maybe that he was deserving to feel love after all.

Knocks on the door bring them back to reality as Maiev looked at it, panicking at first, but then she quickly had to bite in Illidan’s shoulders to muffle her moan as he was still moving his hips inside her. She had no idea who was trying to interrupt them, but she hated them already and the only thing that she wanted, was to stay with Illidan and forget about everything for a day. But more knocks forced her to answer.

“Illidan,” she whispered to not be heard outside the room. “Stop for a minute please.”

He quickly groaned his frustration, but obeyed as he stopped moving, glaring deadly towards the door.

“What?!” barked Maiev, loud enough so the knocker would know that it was for them, and also in hope that they wouldn’t hear in her voice that she was far from being really angry.

“Miss Shadowsong, sorry to bother you but you and Mr. Stormrage are expected in Marshall’s office to meet with the new pilots.”

Maiev groaned loudly as she had completely forgotten about that duty for the day. And the temptation to not go at all and stay with Illidan was really strong, but she also needed to show that she was exemplary amongst the pilots. She looked at Illidan, who had reached the same conclusion and who was already rolling his eyes at such an annoying duty, but he understood why it was needed.

“I’m…” began Maiev, suddenly realizing that she couldn’t use the word “coming” with the situation she was in. “I will be there soon and I’ll warn Illidan along the way, thank you.”

“Alright, I’m warning Marshall Khadgar that you are on your way,” said the interrupter before walking away.

Meanwhile, Illidan quickly went back to his thrusting as he knew that they hadn’t a lot of time left in the room, and Maiev gladly accepted it as she moaned louder against his skin. As they finally finished, Maiev embraced Illidan around the waist and put light kisses over his skin, while he simply laughed as he returned the embrace.

“See? It was great,” smiled Maiev as she reached his face to whisper in his ears. “And if you dare to hide anything else from me, I will put you in the ground like the good old time.”

“Now you know everything,” he smiled back. “So, your vain little threat doesn’t affect me.”

They both smiled at each other, until they realized that they only were getting late for their duty, and soon, they hurried up out of the room, doing their best to pretend that they had just napped all morning.

“Ready to meet the new pilots?” asked Maiev, a hand on the doorknob of Khadgar’s office.

“Let’s go,” approved Illidan. “And let’s show them who is the best in the Shatterdome.”

She smiled at him quickly, then erased her smile as she pushed the door open, only to discover Khadgar, sitting at his desk while looking really impatient and displeased with their lateness. And in front of him, sitting on chairs, were two people that strangely, Maiev recognized, but it wasn’t until they turned their face to them that she understood why. They were the two strangers from earlier in the hallway. Those who had made Illidan ran away…

And as she had that thought, she heard the door slamming shut and by looking at it, she realized that Illidan wasn’t in the room and as she opened back the door, he was nowhere to be seen, and he wasn’t even answering her call.

“Commissioner Shadowsong,” said Khadgar, grabbing her attention. “Please, come here. We were expecting this reaction from Illidan, so please, do not bother with him yet. I’ll have a talk with him later.”

“But…” she only whispered, not understanding why he was acting like that.

After all, they had just put an end to their biggest problem, why wouldn’t he stand with her as the perfect copilot now? Was it because of the newbies? Newbies that she couldn’t stop thinking that she knew them, even if she couldn’t remember from when, or why.

“Apparently, following your fight from the morning, some flight got delayed, so for today, we only have a pair of new recruits,” explained Khadgar. “The others should get there during the week. Anyway, here’s Tyrande Whisperwind and Malfurion Stormrage, they will pilot the Teldrassil.”

“Stormrage? Like…”

As she turned her face towards Khadgar to get her answer, he quickly nodded, and suddenly, all the pieces put themselves together. Of course, she knew them! She had seen them countless times when she was drifting with Illidan. His twin and his childhood friend. Those who had been unable to help him when he had been thrown out of his house by his own father, and who Illidan resented probably the most.

It was going to be the worst time of their life.

But right now, she couldn’t say anything and just act as a good pilot and welcome the newcomers, who would risk their life as much as they were already doing. So, Maiev put on her fakest smile over her face.

“A pleasure.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Tomorrow: A silly story that is really stupid.
> 
> See you tomorrow and every day until Christmas with a new fic!
> 
> \----  
> Unfortunately, English isn't my first language so if someone is interested in becoming my beta-reader for the language, hit me up on my Tumblr!  
> Or if you just want to talk about WoW, my fics, someone else fics, or anything, you can still hit me up there!
> 
> https://thewritingof-therose.tumblr.com/
> 
> or on Discord
> 
> https://discord.gg/nvKggwc (An Illidan/Maiev Discord)
> 
> Later!
> 
> (Comments are welcomed and appreciated :D)


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